What’s going on
JTQ BLUE NOTE, MILAN 10 and 11 April
Martin Taylor and Ulf Wakenius LE DUC DES LOMBARDS, PARIS 10 and 11 Apr
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart BIX, STUTTGART 10 April
Check the great “Sweet Baby James” road warrior Goldings “testifying” with singer Nicole Zuraitis on the storming new ‘un, ‘Won’t Make It Out Alive,’ that also has the mighty Christian McBride significant on it. Jazz chum: you won’t forgive yourself if you miss this however reasonable your excuse may be having succumbed once again elsewhere to having being hypnotised yet again by bizarrely compelling and very hilarious Hans Groiner videos on YouTube.
Tcha Limberger, TOOTS, BRUSSELS 11 April
Back in 2019 I watched a remarkable film directed by Dolma’s Daughters film maker Ádám Miklós and written by the then London based Hungarian and former Hutton Grove lodger the lovely Yvonne Bauer. It was called A Magyar Nóta: Belga Mestere literally “Belgian Master of Hungarian Song” and was a truly remarkable and quite moving insight about the music and life of the extraordinary violinist Tcha Limberger, a blind violin virtuoso from Belgium who discovers traditional Hungarian music and moves to Hungary to master it.
Limberger fell in love with the long forgotten Hungarian nóta style and made it his mission to introduce it to the world. The film makers ask the questions why does he want to learn a music genre that has almost been forgotten by Hungarians; and why does he leave the security of his Belgian home to live in a Transylvanian village?
Shot in Hungary, Transylvania and Belgium the sound quality is excellent and the Transylvanian scenes are especially very beautifully filmed, the quality of the light is stunning: a scene towards the end of the film has a gathering of fiddlers that is epic and life affirming.
Limberger is appearing at Toots with guitarists Renaud Dardenne & Benjamin Clement and double bassist Boris Schmidt. SG
Niklas Lukassen A-TRANE, BERLIN 12 April
Biréli Lagrène Quartet, ZIGZAG, BERLIN 13 April
The gypsy jazz icon’s new album Elegant People, ploughing his own furrow stylistically venturing within the viaduct of his dreams into more straightahead territory, is simply superb. See our best of the year to date list for a review among the other, erm, choice “bangers” in the 10. The French jazzer’s best album oh in many, many moons. One can’t but love a new, deftly swinging, elegantly modulating walking version of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s huggable 1970s ditty ‘Clair‘ however much one contrarily attempts not to. It’s cool to give in. After descending chords set the scene, the piece – plot spoiler – opens out into a peach of a George Benson-like solo from Biréli who is on bouncing form capably supported buoyantly by the other cats. The wordless singing towards the end is rather sweet and hardly a case of indulgent caterwauling at all. But howl on. Hold tight, other choice bits include a take on the Weather Report classic that acts as title track. SG
Macha Gharibian NEW MORNING, PARIS 14 April
Mammal Hands FASCHING, STOCKHOLM 14 April
George Colligan Trio, BIRD’S EYE, BASEL 14-15 April
Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart PARADOX, TILBURG 16 Apr
Bill Frisell & Eyvind Kang MOODS, ZURICH 19 April
Peter Evans STADTGARTEN, COLOGNE 21 April
Gilad Hekselman, Jeff Ballard, Orlando Le Fleming SUNSET, PARIS 22 Apr
Bassist Larry Grenadier was cool on 2025’s Downhill From Here pootering along particularly well on ‘Alfie’ for instance. He finds all the time in the world again and again. There’s another Brad Mehldau connection in that guitar eminence Hekselman is playing Paris for this date with Mehldau drummer Jeff Ballard. In tow on bass is Orlando Le Fleming who was superb last year with the full deck of all-stars found on Ant Law’s Unified Theories.
Joe Webb trio NICA, HAMBURG 24 April
Ambrose Akinmusire and Brussels Jazz Orchestra PARADOX, TILBURG 24 April
Michael Mayo JASSMINE, WARSAW 25 April
Peter Erskine Quartet feat. Alan Pasqua, Darek Oles & Bob Mintzer PORGY & BESS, VIENNA 25 April
Grant Stewart Quartet KING GEORG, COLOGNE 28 April
I loved Next Spring, reviewed above. Here Canada born saxist Stewart – think the majesty of Newk in your mind’s eye and you won’t go far wrong – hits Cologne with pianist Martin Sasse, double bassist Kenji Rabson and drummer Bernd Reiter.
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